Rotary belt loading machine



Dec. 31, 1946. I R.-M. FREEMAN ROTARY BELT LOADING MACHINE 6 sheets-sheet 1 Filed March 20, 1942 km 3 ,8 E

a my w wv mm mm" HWw W I iI I NVENT OR Dec. 31, 1946. R. M. FREEMAN ROTARY BELT LOADING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1942 6 Sheet'sSheet 2 R O T N E V m Dec. 31; 194s. RMFREEMN 2,413,316

ROTARY BELT LOADING MACHINE Filed March 20 1942 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 \Iflllfliiillll'lillllllilfllY...

lulqumllmunullm iimnifii alniiiimIliifiianmmnnfiwum llllllllllllg llfllllllllll IPJlllHllil Dec. 31, 1946. R. M. FREEMAN ROTARY BELT LOADING MACHINE e Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 20, 1942 FIG.I5.

INVENTOR Dec. 31, 1946. R FREEMAN 2,413,315

ROTARY BELT LOADING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1942 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 D86, 31, 1945. FREEMAN 2,413,31fi

ROTARY BELT LOADING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1942 e Sheets-Sheet e 'ber of clips.

Patented Dec. 31, 1946 ROTARY BELT LOADING MACHINE Robert M. Freeman, United States Navy Application March 20, 1942, Serial No. 435,523

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) 12 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for making ammunition belts, and particularly to that type of belt known as a disintegrating belt, in which the individual rounds of ammunition, together with the clips or links, form a continuous belt which is broken up into its component elementsas it passes through the gun in which the ammunition is being fired.

Inasmuch as machine guns can be made to fire at speeds up to l'00rounds per minute it is evident that to be used in these guns, high speed isnecessary in forming the belts or else a disproportionate amount of time will be consumed solely in their preparation.

.A device, operated by hand,'has been used to 'form'these belts by aligning ten cartridges at a time in position to be rammed into an equal num- It is obvious that a device of this kind is totally inadequate. Other devices have been developed in which cartridges and clips are supplied from appropriate magazines to a reciprocating ramming mechanism. These loaders are much more satisfactory than handloaders but are still too slow, and thus take up too much of the time of personnel. In the present invention a plurality of types of ammunition maybe'fed to a rotating drum by means of an appropriate selector mechanism, after whicha plurality of rammers, actuated by a cam, force the cartridges into the belt clips.

One of the objects of this invention is to load rounds of ammunition to belt clips whereinthe clips are loaded in considerably less time than heretofore.

Another object of the invention is to load rounds of ammunition of difierent types to the belt clips. V

Another object-is to load rounds of ammunition of diiierent types to the belt clips in a predetermi'ned'order. g I: V Still another object of the invention is to load rounds of ammunition of different types to the belt clips in a predetermined order wherein the order may be changed as desired.

A further 'object of the invention is to load ro'undsbf ammunition of the same or diflerent typewhe'rein the belt is broken at spaced intervals to provide individual belt clips of a desired length without stoppingslowing down or disrupting the continuous operation of the loadingmachine. still further object's, advantages, and improvements will be apparent from the following description of the invention'taken in connection with'the accompanying drawings, of which;

tridge carrying drum, taken on the line 4+-4 of Fig. 1. V

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 with the cartridges removed to show details of the rammer returning cam.

Figure 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1 showing the cartridge selecting drum in detail.

Figure 7 is a detail view of a supporting bracket for the link supporting belt.

I Figure 8 is a detail view of a portion of a loaded gelt, one of the cartridges being left out to show a break in the belt.

Figure 9 is a view showing a topplan, side elevation, and bottom plan of one of the belt clips, or links. I

Figure 10 is a detail view, with parts in section, of the selecting drum and the operating block for breaking the belt.

Figure 11 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Fig.' l0, the operating block cam being in the inoperative position. v I

Figure 12 is a view similar to that of Fig-11 with some of the parts removed and some in section to show the cam in its operative position.

Figure 13 is a detail rear elevation ofthe selecting drum showing the removable plate and operating block. i

Figure 14 is a detail face view projecting cam on a reduced scale.

Figure 15' is a detail sectional view of a-portion of the rammer receiving end of a modified form of drum showing a means for frictionally engaging the rammer. T

Referring now to the drawings, on which like numerals of reference are employed to designate like parts throughout the several views, and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown there-- in a form of the device mounted upon a base member 20, which supports the upright members 2| and 22. A shaft 23 rotates in suitable bearings provided in the upright supporting members 2| and Y22. A drum 24, which may be caIledthe of the rammer cartridge carrying drum, is supported on the shaft 23 and is fixed to rotate with it by means of keys or other suitable means. Another cylindrically shaped member, or drum 25, which may be called the selector drum, is also attached to rotate with the shaft 23 by means of keys or other suitable attaching means, Power toturn the shaftis supplied from a'source not shown which operates a belt 26 running on the pulley 2T, 'which'in tilrn is fixed to the shaft 23 by a suitable means such as a key or set screw.

A chute 28 for the belt links Liis supported by. any appropriate means (not shown). so, as to feed the links to the receiving portion of the cartridge carrying drum 24. The chute'zfiisopen along the top central section of its entire length to allow a space in which the flexible belt 29 runs, as may be seen in Figs, 1 and 3, flfhisbelt is supported on idler pulleys 3! (shown in detail in f Fig. '7) attached to thebase 29 and to a bracket 32 in such a way that it bears against the links L. and holds them in place on the cartridge carryingldrnm. during the time that they" are travelmg from the link chute 28 to the dlivery tray 33. supported on base 2% bythemember tfi. The ,b t 129' "ma bedriven i rom the same source ich drives the shaft 23, 01 from 'a' source (not s own)? independently therefrom, but in either event; the drivingis'ource i preferably arran ed so that the belt tr'av'els at a slightly greater linear re ei an he re i h r hre of um i so as to tend to crowd the links, L close together while being fed to, and around, the drum.

enlur l t of cartri maga s girand rise-F g. urgeri s by a y, u a le, m an l; 1 .-L hQ I-i) r@ pr ided or. the sur a s O feeding cartridges to the channels 36 on the cartr dge. arryin d m fifhe e, b any number f th e maeee n si ec r nstq he 1 itations of the machine, orthere-may be only one. 1 n om nst t may. e... mble. t afl' belt with different typeset am ition, such as deter se vi e ammuni on. dumm r s. etc.,-- in a predeterminedorder In such event the use of a plurality of cartridgernagazines wh l iec iet adin o the e ther s eeted derlql pu verr. h wam s of mmunition could be loaded into each magazine, meteredthermor wh n o e than one type o f 'ammunition is used, itis not necessary to limit each type to a single magag ine, but. one more tr s may he vnla eci' n, pl a ty of me ez nes select l we toenable Wide variations in the loading or he diiferent ty es ammunit on; as We asd stri tin "th oadentlie moving. parts o he-machine, A s desiredr di fe ent types m i n. m y e placedineachcne o all of the ma azines to ive Wid r-va i ions.in'the order or'loading. A re tarding means, such as the star wheels 5?, Stand 3.9.. arer vided. a he werends. 101" th mesazines, the arms oi the star-wheels projecting into the; magazine to: control the feeding cfthe cartridges; he star wheels arefixed to. the shafts 41', I12; and respectively, which rotate in suitable bearings provided in the-cross bar;,44" (Fig. 5.);isupported on brackets t5 and it, brackets. andtfi. being attached to the base member 2%. Operation, of any of the retarding means :(by apparatus to'be later described) will permit acartridge in. the magazine, to which the retarding means is attached, to drop in the adjacent channelS'fiin the cartridge carrying: drum.

Around the periphery .of one endofthe cartridge'carrying 'dru'ni there is'an extended. pori- 4 tion 4? (see Fig. 2) of larger diameter than the main section of the drum. This portion is provided with a plurality of holes longitudinally disposed in alignment with the channels 36 in the main portion of the drum, there being one hole for each channel. Push rods, or rammers, 18

slide. within these holes, The rammers 48 have e la eduheaii m hi. en g t e bases of the cartridges and these heads preferably are dished out in the center so as to avoid any possibility of setting off the primers. This construction is' shown in detail in Figure 15 in which modification the enlarged portion 47 of the drum is cut away to'expose a portion of the ramme l8. Friction elements 5 i. may be attached to the drum so as to press against the rammers 48 and prevent idle motion.

A cover 52 fsee Fig. l) fits over that portion of the cartridge carrying drum between the magazines and the delivery tray 33 for the purpose of keeping the, cartridges'secure in s the} channels 3 An operating cam 53 (see Eigsl and14) is attached to the support ZZso as-to; engage the rearends. of the, rammers as. Thus, when the .drum 'rot'ate'sin the direction shown by the arrows the rammers are progressively pushed forward to-force the cartridges into engagement with the belt links L. The contour of the cam 53 may be such that the rate of advance of the rammers is comparativelyrapid during the first part of the stroke until the "cartridges begin to firmly engage the links, after which point the rate of advance of the rammers will be reduced to provide more power and to securely seat the cartridges in the links L. A band or enlargement '54 (see Figs. 1 and 2 is provided around the forward periphery of the cartridge carrying drum 2 3. This band is provided to serve as; an abutment for the belt links L to hold them against lateral displacement when the cartridges are rammed into place. Another cam surface 55, (see Figs-2 and 5), attached to the support #5 by any suitable means, is provided to return the rammers Q3, totheir retracted position after they have rammed the cartridges into the links. The

whi h. l advan eih H mer a d cartridges rorwardduring the travel'from the magazines to the delivery tray and return the rammers to their retracted positions during, movement from the delivery :tray to the magazines. A single continuous cam surface, or groove located in the cylindrical areasnrroundingthe ,raminers might e. emp o d. whi case th i i dua rammers could be provided with suitable means to nsase-thiss evao m rf ce-y t The mechanism; for selecting the. ammunition from the various magazines to determine the ord r ed ra ic. i hic tqw a pea in the loaded belt will nowbe described (see Figs. 6, 10, 1.1; and 12 The selector-drum 25, 3 es wit the shaft 23 as prev ously described... he drum is. providedwith a. plurality .of laterally. extending guidewayseor grooves 56 as shown in cross-sec tion in Fig. 6, there being as many guideways on the selector drum 2 5. as there are channels 36 :on the cartridge carrying drum 24, although they are not necessarilyin alignment. A number of sliding blocks 57 and 59 are to be inserted inthese uidetvay5,' herefore, it s. es ential that t sides ofthe guidewaysbe undercut'in any suitablefiman Qr..that.,some,other provision be madeyslo that-these blocks will, be retainedinJthe ,lguideways during rotation of the selector ;drum. ;In :order to's.-restrict:;lateral- :movement {ofthe .blocksa suitable :means may be provided such as :the'.plate 60 attached to the rear of the selector drum. .iAnother-platetl .may be secured to' the .Ifront faceofatheselector drum in such a manner ...as to be quickly removable in order to change the positions .of. the blocks 51 and 59. 'Ihe-blo,cks 59 .are bye-passing blocks and serve the, purpose-only .of providinga smooth. surface on the outer pe- .ripheryroitheselector drum as well as to properly position the operating blocks 51 intheinrespective .guideways. The operating blocks=51 are each provided with trips 58 and depressions 52.

.Aspreviously stated, the star wheels 31, 38 and 39 are attached to and rotate withtheshafts Al, 42,.and 43 respectively to control the dropping of;the cartridgesfrom-the magazines to the cartridge; carrying drum. 'These shafts are oper- .ated.:byxintermittent motion mechanisms 63, 64, and 65. attached to the ends of shafts 41, 42, and A3 respectively, opposite to theends on whichthe star wheels are fixed. Theshafts are supported near the intermittent motion mechanisms in suitable bearings provided in. a bracket BG-held by the upright 22. In the form of mechanism shown the intermittent motion devices comprises circular discs provided with pins 61 protruding from one face of each ofthe discs. These pins are engaged by the trips 58- on the operating blocks 41 by virtue of which engagement movement will be imparted tothe intermittent motion mechanisms. There are as many pins 61 on each of the intermittent motion-devices as there are arms on the 7 star wheel. connected to that device. A plurality of stops, 68 are providedon the periphery oi. the discs. These stops engage the depressions 62 in the operating blocks51- when the' intermittent motion device is beingturned by the engagement of pins 61 with trip 58, whereas at all other times the stops engage the smooth surface presented by the Joy-passing blocks 59' which lie flush with the cylinder surface of the-selector drum 25, thus preventingrotationof the star wheels. The stops may be merely projections of the discs, or may take'the form of small rollers pivotally attached to the periphery of the discs.

Normally, there will be an operating block 51 in each of the guideways 56 which will engage at least one of the intermittent motion devices. The intermittent motion devices are placed so as to lie in different lateral planes with respect to the .axis of rotation of the selector drum. The particular device to be operated will depend upon the lateral position of the operating block in the guideway, it being apparent that the intermittent motion device will only be operated by a block which lies in the same operational plane. In the form shown in the drawings, it will be noted that there are two by-passing blocks and one operating block in each guideway but it will be understood that the number of by-passing blocks will depend upon the number of intermittent motion mechanisms there are on the machine, the purpose of the by-passing blocks being to fix the operating block in place and fill up the space in the guideway. On theother hand operating blocks could be employed whichcomprised a single piece filling up the entire guideway, it being necessary then to locate the trip 58 on the block at the time ofmanufacture. Furthermore, the entire selector drum, instead of being formed by a builtupconstruction, could be formed-in a single piece, -all of the trips 58 and depressionsGZ being located at,.the;ti1pe.:of. manufacture. ..Ob.viously the. .ad- 2 vantagejofthepresent construction, :as; shown; in v the drawings, restsjrinf-thejfact thatiit; provides interchangeability and fiexibility: of operation.

;A' short'zsection, of ,-a loaded cartridge belt is illustrat'edin Fig.* .8, in which'the. cartridgesiC2, C3,- C4, and 05 have been rammed-into; links .-LI,"L2, L3,"L4, and L5 therebyi joining;:them. Between C5 andC'I itwwas desiredato break. the ...belt;'tha,t is; to end one 'belt andv begin another. :One'. manner .of accomplishing this is-to emit a .single cartridge," as hasbeen done between the links L5 and'LG thereby-destroying the. connec- ,tion between: the links. A new: belt. beginsiwith cartridge C1, connecting the links L6 and L1; Aispecial means has been provided. onJthe machine for omitting asingle cartridge whilethe .machine is in operation, which permits the belts .to. be broken without stopping. the machine. This device-is illustrated particularlyiin Figs? 10, 11, and 12. In one "of the 'guideways 156 there .-is located an operating'block 69, which is. a little longerthan the width of:'the selector .drum and' extends through cut-out openings-rpmvided in-the plates 60 and BI. A bracket'll is attachedsto the under side of,v theperiphery of the selector drum and extends out from .the front face of the drum opposite the block'f69. A spring 72, held inplace by small bosses on the block and bracket tends to pushtheblock'rBS inwardly. A plate 13 attached to the frontend of the block :69; extends around'the edges'otthe block and-serves as a stop to'limitlthe lateral movement of the block inresponse to 'thepressure from the spring 12. A bracket! .is;:attached by any suitable means to the upright support .22, alongside one of the intermittent motion devices. This bracket has an upturned flange 15 into which are drilled suitable holes which provide a sliding fit for the pins l6 and" TI. These pins are attached to and support a cam 18 adjacent the inner edge of the selector drum 25. A-spring 1 9 is attached to the cam 13 and the flange 15 under a slight tension so as norg-nally to hold the cam away from the-selector drum as in Fig. 11. i A finger piece BI is provided on the cam 18 to permit' the cam to be conveniently moved on the pins 16 and TI. Pressure on the fingerpiece Bi will move the cam 'lfl in toward the selector drum, in which position the cam will engage the inner end of the block 69 to forceit outwardly, as' shown in Fig. 12, when the motion of the selector drum brings the 'block opposite the cam. By this'means theoperating block 69 will be carried past the mechanism 68"in' a position such that-its trip-58 -w'il1 not operate the mechanism, which normally-it would do. As a result,there will be an empty channel in the'cartridge carrying drum.

The operation of the beltloading machine as 60 a whole will now be explained. The link belt chute 28 must be filled with belt links L and kept filled while the machine is in operation. Cartridges must also be loaded in the magazines 33, 34, and 35 and continually supplied during operation. The choice of cartridges for each magazine will depend on the character of the belt'it is desired to form. For the purposes of illustration we will assume that thebelt, is to be composed of tracers and service ammunition in the ratioof one tracer to two service rounds. In this instance then 'it would be desirable to load the magazine 33 with tracer cartridges Ct, while magazines34, and 35 could contain service ammunition Cs and Cs I.

The operating, blocks. ,5! will thenbe placed 'station F and channel F in position in the channels or slots BBLby removal of the cover 6! as described, so that as the selector drum 25 rotates, in the direction shown by tion mechanisms in consecutive order.

the placement of a cartridge in the channel D on the cartridge carrying drum. Similarly for control station E and channel E and control Inasmuch as the operating block 51 in control station D is placed in the same operating plane as the mechanism 63, which controls the displacement of cartridges from magazine 33, it follows that a cartridge from that magazine will drop into channel D when the entire mechanism is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow. The next channel to be filled is E which is controlled by control station E. The operating block in this station is placed so as to actuate the intermittent motion mechanism 64 connected to magazine 34 which is the ,magazine from which channel E will be filled.

The operating block in control station F is located in the plane which corresponds to that of mechanism 65 which controls the release of cartridges from magazine 35, and from which magazine the channel F will therefore be filled. The arrange? ment just described may be varied so that any sequence of operation can be performed. Furthermore, it is not necessary that all of the magazines be used; if desired, the operating blocks could all be arranged in the same operating plane so as to fill all of the channels with cartridges from the same magazine. In this fashion any number of the magazines may be utilized, either singly or in combination, depending upon the disposition of the operating blocks. When they have been placed in position in the channels 56 the cover 6! will be replaced as described.

As the entire device rotates the cartridge carrying drum 24 takes the cartridges, retaining.

them in the order in which they were deliver d to the drum, from the magazines through approximately half a revolution to the delivery tray 33. At the same time the drum carries the links from the link chute 28 to the delivery tray, the links being retained in alignment with the cartridges as described. During the cycle of this half revolution of the drum the individual rammers 48, actuated by the cam 53 as previously described, will act against the bases of the cartridges to force them into the links L thus creating the completed cartridge belt which issues from the delivery tray 33.

When it is desired to break the belt by omitting a cartridge from one of the links as previously explained, all that is necessary is to press the finger piece Si so as to move the cam 18 in close to the edgeof the selector drum until the operating block 65] passes by, after which the finger piece is released. As shown, operation of the finger piece 85 is performed by hand. The inward movement of the finger piece SI will laterally shift the operating block'fis so that it will not operate the mechanism 55 and the equivalent channel on the cartridge carrying drum will not contain a cartridge, thereby leavin a blank space in the links L. Consequently, the completed belt will be separated at this point as it comes off the delivery tray. Normally, theblock E9 is arranged to operate the intermittent motion mechanism adjacent the cam 78. As shown in the drawings, this mechanism is' the one. closest "to the outside edge of the selector drum, but the trip '58 on the block 69 cou1d beplaced in any pc- 'sition suitable to operatev any one of theintermittent motion devices. Because of the fact that only onebperating block on the selectordrum is arranged to be displaced, it follows that the belt can be broken only at'some multiple of the number of stations on the drum, which, in this case, is-thirty. Inasmuchas the length of cartridge belts varies fr'om 250 rounds it is apparent that it will not be usually necessary to provide for making a break in the belt at a multiple of a lower frequency. However, it is evident that any number of the operating blocks might be constructed in the same manner-as 69, if it is desirable.

While the invention has been described with reference to certain preferred examples thereof which give satisfactory results, it willbe understood by those skilled in the'art to which the invention pertains, after understanding theinvention, that various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is my intention, therefore, to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications.

The invention herein described may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed as new and desired to be seured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus for selectively depositing cartridges on a moving conveyor comprising in combination, a plurality of magazines for cartridges, a selector mechanism, feeding means for each of said magazines for feeding individual cartridges from the magazines to the conveyor, means for operating said selector mechanism in synchronism with said moving conveyor, an intermittent motion mechanism for each of said feeding meanslocated adjacent said selector mechanism including a plurality of tripping means on said selector mechanism for momentarily engaging said intermittent motion mechanisms for feedin a single cartridge from one of the magazines during a single engagement.

2. Apparatus for selectively depositing cartridges on a moving conveyor comprising in combination, a plurality of magazines for cartridges, a selector mechanism, feeding means for each of said magazines for feeding individual cartridges from the magazines to the moving conveyor, means for operating said selector mechanism .in synchronism with said moving conveyor, a rotatable shaft for each of said feeding meansextending into proximity with said selector mechanism, said shafts having a plurality of projecting pinsat their free ends, a plurality of trippingmeans on said selector mechanism for momentarily engaging said pins for feeding a single cartridge from one of the magazines during a single engagement.

' 3.. Apparatus for selectively depositing cartridges on amoving conveyor comprising in comshaft for each'of said'feeding means extending into proximity with the surface of said selector mechanism, said shafts having a plurality of projecting pins at their free ends, a plurality of tripping means on said selector mechanism for momentarily engaging said pins for feeding a single cartridge from one of the magazines during a single engagement, the free ends of each of said shafts terminating in different planes with respect to the axis of said selecting mechanism.

4. Apparatus for depositing cartridges on a moving conveyor comprising in combination, a plurality of magazines for cartridges, a selector mechanism, a star wheel for each of said magazines for feeding individual cartridges from the magazines to the conveyor, means for operating said selector mechanism in synchronism with said moving conveyor, a rotating shaft for each of said star wheels extending into proximity with the selector mechanism, said shafts having a plurality of projecting pins at their free ends, a plurality of tripping means on said selector mechanism for momentarily engaging said pins for rotating the shafts and star wheels thereby feeding a single cartridge from one of the magazines durin a single engagement, the free ends of each of said shafts terminating in different planes with respect to the axis of said selecting mechanism.

5. Apparatus for selectively depositing cartridges on a moving conveyor comprising in combination, a plurality of magazines for cartridges, a rotatable selector drum, feeding means for each of said magazines for feeding individual cartridges from the magazines to the conveyor, means for operating said selector drum in synchronism with said moving conveyor, an intermittent motion mechanism for each of said feeding means located near said selector drum in cluding a plurality of tripping means detachably secured to the periphery of said selector drum for momentarily engaging said intermittent motion mechanisms for feeding a single cartridge from one of said magazines during a single engagement, each of said intermittent motion mechanisms being positioned in different planes with respect to the axis of said selecting drum.

6. Apparatus for depositing cartridges on a moving conveyor comprising in combination, a plurality of magazines for cartridges, a traveling selector drum, feeding means for each of said magazines for feeding individual cartridges from the magazines to the conveyor, means for operating said selector drum in synchronism with said moving conveyor, a rotatable shaft for each of said feeding means extending into proximity with the surface of said selector drum, said shafts having a plurality of projecting pins at their free ends, a plurality of tripping means slidably attached to the periphery of said selector drum for momentarily engaging said pins for feeding a single cartridge from one of the ma azines during a single engagement, the free ends of each of said shafts terminating in different planes with respect to the axis of said selecting drum.

'7. An apparatus for selectively depositing cartridges on a moving conveyor comprising a plurality of cartridge magazines and means for feeding the cartridges from the magazines to the conveyor, said cartridge feeding means including a selector mechanism, means for operating said selector mechanism in synchronism with said moving conveyor, an intermittent motion mechanism located adjacent to said selector mechanism, a plurality of tripping means on said'selector mechanism for momentarily engaging said intermittent motion mechanism for feeding a single car- 10 tridge from one of said magazines during a single engagement.

8. In an apparatus for loading ammunition belts including a cartridge magazine, a moving conveyor for belt links and cartridges, means for feeding the cartridges from the magazine to the conveyor, and means in operative connection with the conveyor for inserting the cartridges into the links, said feeding means including a rotary member for transferring the cartridges from the magzine to the conveyor, a selector drum operatively connected to said conveyor, a mechanism having a plurality of lugs for driving said rotary member from said selector drum, tripping means mounted on said selector drum and normally positioned thereon for engaging said lugs, and means on said drum for normally maintainin said tripping means in the aforesaid position.

9. In an apparatus for loading ammunition belts including a plurality of cartridge magazines, a moving conveyor for belt links and cartridges, means for feeding the cartridges from the magazine to the conveyor, and means in operative connection with the conveyor for inserting the cartridges into the links, said feeding means including a rotary member for each of said magazines for transferring the cartridges from each magazine to the conveyor, a selector drum operatively connected to said conveyor, a plurality of mechanisms each having a plurality of lugs for driving each of said rotary members from said selector drum, tripping means slidably mounted on said selector drum and normally positioned thereon for engaging said lugs, and spring means on said drum for normally maintaining said tripping means in the aforesaid position.

10. In an apparatus for loading ammunition belts including a magazine, a moving conveyor for belt links and cartridges, means for feeding the cartridges from the magazine to said conveyor, and means in operative connection with the conveyor for inserting the cartridges into the links, said feeding means including a rotary member for transferring the cartridges from the i magazine to the conveyor, a selector drum opera- ".tively connected to said conveyor, a mechanism having a plurality of lugs for driving said rotary member from said selector drum, tripping means mounted on said selector drum extending beyond the surface of said selector drum and normally positioned thereon for engaging said lugs, and a camming mechanism mounted adjacent to said selector drum for displacing said tripping means to prevent engagement of the tripping means with said lugs.

11. In an apparatus for loading ammunition belts including a cartridge magazine, a moving conveyor for belt links and cartridges, means for feeding the cartridges from the magazine to the conveyor, and means in operative connection with the conveyor for inserting the cartridges into the links, said feeding means including a rotary member for transferring the cartridges from the magazine to the conveyor, a selector drum operatively connected to said conveyor to be driven thereby, a mechanism having a plurality of lugs for driving said rotary member from said selector drum, tripping means slidably mounted on the periphery of said selector drum and extending beyond the surface thereof and normally positioned thereon for engaging said lugs, spring means on said drum for normally maintaining said tripping means in a position for engaging sai lugs, and a camming mechanism mounted 5 adjacent to said selector drum for displacing said 11 tripping means to prevent the same from engaging said lugs.

12. A machine for selectively arranging a plurality of dissimilar articles in predetermined sequence comprising article conveying means; a plurality of means for feeding dissimilar articles onto said conveying means; substantially identical article retaining means associated with each 12 feeding means; and successive sets of article selecting members carried by said conveying means, each selecting member of one set being constructed and arranged to actuate the article retaining means of one only of said feed means to release an article so selected from the respective feed means onto said conveying means.

ROBERT M. FREEMAN. 

